Region V: Europe

Notice to Operators Flying European Non-Precision Approaches

February 17, 2011

Jeppesen EU-OPS 1 Minimums for Non-Precision Approach Procedures

As indicated in Jeppesen Briefing Bulletin Jep 08-D and Jeppesen Chart Legend pages, EU-OPS and other state regulations may require that Non-Precision Approaches be flown using the Continuous Descent Final Approach (CDFA) technique. The CDFA method prohibits level flight at the published minimum altitude and instead requires an immediate missed approach upon reaching minimums unless visual references have been acquired.

In support of these CDFA procedures, Jeppesen is replacing previously charted MDA(H) minima with DA(H) minima on Non-Precision Approach Procedures in EU, EASA and JAA member states.

Operators on a Non-Precision Approach in Europe should note:

On a Non-Precision Approach, the airplane must never descend below the published minimum altitude during the initiation of the missed approach.

Unlike DA(H) minima published on an ILS, LNAV/VNAV, or LPV procedure, the DA(H) minima for the subject Non-Precision approaches (e.g., LOC, VOR, LNAV, NDB) published by Jeppesen do not provide an allowance for any momentary altitude loss during the transition to the missed approach climb.

Therefore, when a DA(H) is shown by Jeppesen on a Non-Precision Approach chart, it is critical to safety that crews account for loss of altitude in order to avoid descent below the published DA(H).

The value of the additive is left to the discretion of the operator, but should reflect realistic operating characteristics of the aircraft as well as crew performance.

For more information on this critical safety issue, contact NBAA's Bob Lamond at rlamond@nbaa.org.